Sectional cabinet



@et 9, w28'.- ,68'6,515 y E. F. CHANDLER SECTIONAL CABINET 'Filed Aug.23, 192:5

ATTORNEY vso Patented Oct. 9, 1928,

UN'IEy *STATE-S,

'eater i orties.

EDWARD F. CHANDLER, OF BROOKLYN, YORK.

SECTIONAL CABINET.

' Application ledvAugust 23, 1923. Serial No. 658,864.

This invention relates to sectional cases or` cabinets used in stores,offices or the like, for tiling cards, papers, etc.

It ,is one of the objects of the invention to provide improved means forassembling the units and for holding them in assembled relation, to forma cabinet. Y Y

Another object is to provide a simplified locking means whereby theunits can be more economically constructed and yet be rigidly heldtogether when assembled.

Another object is to provide a unit consist V:Referring now to thedrawings which illus- Y trate a'v preferred embodiment of the invention,y. y 'Figure l is a perspective view of the cabinet, showing three unitsassembled, and ready to receive the fourth;` n Figure 2 is-a sectionalview illustrating one means for aligning the units;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the assemblv of a two unit cabinet;

Figure 4 isa perspective view of a .two'unit locking member; i

Figure is a sectional view of the two unit cabinet ;V Y

Figure 6 is an end elevation of a corner of avunit; y f Figure 7 is aview of the unit blank illustratingv a step in the process of formingthe corner; i' .f l

Figure 8 is an end view of a four unit locking member; Y FigureV 9 is aperspective view showing the recess for the locking member inset fromtheface of the unit; i

Figure 10 is a perspective view showing a modified form of lockingmember recess;

Y Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view substantially on thene 11e-11 ofFigure 10;

Figure 12 is a front view of thev shell for a unit; r Y r y n Figures12n and 12b illustrate various ways of securing the ends of the shelltogether;

AFigure 13 is a View of a modified form of locking member.

ineens ln the' embodiments illustrated, the cabinety units, which may beof various sizes and of x rectangular sha-pe, are designated by the nu--v moral Each unit is provided with an openiwng 2 in the front thereof,for receiving a drawer or raclr to hold thecards, papers or the like.for filing. A panel?) may be provided,"

around the openings 2' to hold thedrawers spaced from the walls'oftheunit. A section of this panel is removed at each corner of the Gli unitas at 4:, L and the corner walls of the units.r

at each end thereof` are displaced inwardly to provide a recess 5 forthe body 7 of the locking member 6. The locking members 6 arek ofvarious sizes, each comprising a body member- 7 and one ormore prongs7a, 7b, 7, 7d, etc. A single prong locking member is illustrated inFigure 13, a two prong member in Figure 4, and a four prong member inFigure 8,.

To facilitate assembling the units, each unit is provided with displaceddowels or projections 8 upon two ofthe adjacent. sides thereof, forexample, upon the top and right side 'as viewed in Figure 1, and withcorresponding sockets or depressions Qupontheopposite sides7 i. e., thebottom and left 'side in Figure 1,to receive the projections Sand holdthe units'in position to receive the locking members 6. lThe projections8 Vand depressions 9 may'each -be formed by displacing the walls of theunits a'slight amount, as trated in Figure 2."

To assemble the cabinet, as illustrated in Figure 1, the fourthunitispositioned upon the single unit to complete the i'ectanglefour illus# ppronged locking members 6 are inserted'at each end of the cabinet at 10,two pronged locking members are inserted in the recesses at 11, andsingle pronged members are inserted at thek outer corners 12. Wheninserted, the body? of the'locking members substantially fills therecesses 5 and forms a cabinet with a .smooth exterior, while the prongs7, 7b, 7C, etc., project into the separate units to hold or Vlocktheminassembled position. i

n win be observed am bymeans '6ft-his, 'constructiomeach unit', and eachcombination of units, when complete with theloclr- 'ing members, will-have perfectly smooth sides. As stated above, this constitutes, anadvantage from a manufacturing standpoint, inasmuch as the costoftinishingflat surfaces is considerably less than'that entailedby thefinishing' of 'irregular surfaces. However,. aside from considerationsof cost, this feature is very important per se, because the appearanceof the cabinets is finuch improved, it belng the same as that ofordinary non-sectional cabinets, and the weight is uniformly dis`tributed overa large surface.

f is possible to set cabinets formed by means Vof these units, side byside with cabinets of ordinary construction, Without danger ofscratching or marring their surfaces.

Vhile a cabinet consisting of four substantially uniform units has beenillustrated and described, it is to be understood that any number ofunits of various sizes may be assembl'ed together to form a cabinet andthatsuitable bases and cap pieces may be pro- Y the proper lockingmember is dropped intov vided for the top and bottom of the cabinet toform an attractive piece of furniture.

' A special feature of my invention is the simplified method ofconstructing the units of my cabinet, which are preferably formed fromone piece of sheet material, shaped to form a rectangle 13, asillustrated in Figure 12, with the ends of the sheet joined by a strip14 covering the seam. In lieu of the strip 14, the ends of the sheet maybe con-V nected by a lap joint 1lia which is spot Welded or by a lockseam 14h which may be used to hold the ends together without W-elding.The recesses 5, for receiving the locking members 6, are formedvbydisplacing a part of the corner wall of the unit inwardly in a mannertobe described. For forming the panels 3y and the recesses 5 at thecorners of( the cabinet, the sheet is cut to the shape shown in Figure7. The Wings 3a to form the panelV 3 are cut away at the corners 3b soas to form a smooth joint when the wings 3a are folded down to form thepanel. The notch 5a is formed to leave an opening into recess 5 for theinsertion of the locking members. The sheet is then slitted at 5b topermit the Walls of the recess 5 to be'shaped therefrom. In themanufacturing process, the walls 1b are `folded toward each other alongthe line 1C to form a A.9D-degree angle, and the portion 5c is foldedinwardly along thev lines 5d to form QO-degree angles with the walls 1band complete the rectangular recess'. The Wings 3a are then foldedinward along the lines 3b toformthe panel The completed corner as formedby these operations, is illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 9 illustrates a modification of the invention in which the recess5e for the lockingmember is inset from the face of the unit wherebyv thecabinet, when assembled, will present smooth end surfaces. The recesses5e are longer than the vtotal length of the locking members 6, so thatin assembling the units having the recesses inset from the ends,

the recess before the covering units are assembled, and when thecompleted cabinet is assembled the locking members may be pushed intolocking engagement with the walls by inserting the arm through the opengVings 2 and using the lingers 'to push the prongs ,5f to form a pocketin which the prongs 7a,

7b, etc., t, while the body Tof the locking member projects throughopenings 5f into the units.

panels 3 and the recesses 5 form reinforcements for the corners and endof the units to hold them rigid Without the necessity for attachingseparate sections of angle irons o'r the like to the walls. y

In accordance with the patent statutes, I

have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, but itis to beunderstood that various modifications kmay be made therein withoutdeparting from,y the spirit of the invention or the scope of theaccompanying.

claims.

Vhat I claim is: 1. In combination, a plurality of sectional Itv is tobe noted here that the integral cabinet units, eachcomprising `arectangular shell having flush faces, vsaid shells having complementarykey-receiving openings in adjoining edges thereof letting into theinteriors of the shells, and a freely slidable pronged key inserted insaid openings with its prongs entering lthe respective cabinet sectionsand exposed interiorly thereof and embracing adjacent walls of theshells to lock them together. l j y 2. In a sectional cabinet unit,arectangular shell having iiush faces and having a keyreceiving openingprovided at an edge thereof and letting intothe interior of the shell,so that a key or filler inserted in said opening may be exposedinteriorlyof the shell, and means extending inwardly/from an inner faceof the shell for supporting the key or'iiller inserted through saidopening.

3. VIn a sectional cabinet unit, arectangular shell having flushfaces,-and provided at one of its edges with a key-receiving openingletting into the interior Vof, the shell, and a key insertedto liepartially Within and partially Without the shell, the opening and thekey being so shaped thatthe exposed portion of the key may be flush withthe Qiterior of the shell.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signatureto this specification. y

EDWARD F. CHANDLER.

